2006 Ford Escort in car heater takes ages to heat up

Wow, thats a lot of miles for a 2006.
IF you added and extra zero then you may still be under factory warranty.

IT sounds like your thermostat may be stuck open. The engine wants all the heat at first and closes off some of the coolant pathways with the thermostat. When the engine reaches operating temperature the t-stat opens and allows coolant into the heater core to provide heat to the passeneger compartment.

The engine wants the heat first because it burns the fuel more efficiently when it reaches temperature causing less hydro-carbons to be emitted.

My guess is your gas miliage is suffering becasue of this as well. Until the engine reaches temperature there is more fuel being added to the fuel/air mixture to bring it to temperature.

I did write that.