Honestly, you can do all 9 houses and both shows without Express. Without much difficulty too. Basically, I would pick the Hello Kitty S&S and knock out the big IP houses (AHS and The Shining), then start to work your way back. Immediately hit Saw up after those two and have a minimal wait for it, and then get back to the MIB area where you have entrances to Hive, Scarecrow and Blumhouse. I would try to do Scarecrow ASAP as that normally builds a decent line. Hive is usually pretty short so you can hit that once you're done with Scarecrow.
At this point, it's probably not too far into the event, but you may want a slight break. Nearby you have The Simpsons Ride, Roaming Clown hoards, MIB, and B&T. Pick one (or a few), rest and then do Blumhouse once the line is manageable.
Going this route is ideal because then the only house you haven't done are Ash, The Fallen and Dead Waters. All of those houses wait times get shorter and shorter the later into the night it gets. I would suggest hitting Ash, maybe seeing AoV, and then knocking out your final two houses over in New York. Now the event hasn't been that busy so far, but i've been able to do two houses in the last 10 minutes of operating hours three times already, twice being Dead Waters and The Fallen. Once was Ash and then Saw... not an easy feat and included a lot of running
Doing this type of a plan also leaves a decent amount of time for rest, dinner, a few rides, etc so you don't feel like you ran a marathon by the time you get home. The most crucial part of the plan though is making sure you do the Stay and Scream.