I went without express for the first time last year sat on the 2nd weekend. Honestly wasn't that bad at all, maybe it was because I had great friends with me but time seemed to fly and if you have the option of going to the holding pens, you could possibly do all houses in a night. My friends and I did 8 houses within the first 3 hours because of it. The more HHN adds to offerings the more the lines seem to swindle. With the rumor of a 10th house this year I doubt it will be that bad for much longer