As an out of town-er who has gotten the opportunity to attend HHN merely twice in his adult life (hey, living in Connecticut ain't cheap, my guy), I can see both how it would be frustrating as somebody who is either a local and relishes in the chance to enjoy the houses as much as possible / an out-of-town-er who needs those express passes to fully make their trip worth it in a maximum effort as well as how potentially exciting it could be that this move could help reduce crowd-age and help lines move faster.
At the end of the day, I think if you're privileged enough to have been someone who has enjoyed the FFP + Express for years on end, remember the good times but remember the event itself is still going to be there, it's just the way you engage with it that will change.
I do think it's fascinating to wonder what the reception would be if instead of eliminating FFP + Express entirely, Universal simply dropped a massive price increase relative to the value of such an undoubted steal of a deal (which I would assume they'd have the numbers to work out mathematically). Surely there'd be outrage because money as well as the portion that utilize the deal to maximize multiple/one longer vacation as opposed to being able to use it every weekend the event is held. But would the discontent be a lot quieter because the option would still be a reality?
There's no way Halloween Horror Nights is ever going to be an event that makes everyone happy. It's simply an enormously attended event now to be so. Whether it be their own financial gain or guest experience (as with most things the truth is probably in the middle), Universal made this decision for a reason because the event is just getting bigger and bigger.
To me, as a completely average dude who likes theme parks/HHN from very a-far, it's kind of mind boggling that Universal hasn't at least considered doing some drastic things to improve the event on an infrasturctural level (maybe they have?). Horror will always be a cash cow and the only thing that has halted the event's growth was a global pandemic. HHN is something the company should be falling over itself to leverage into being even bigger.