Ex MK Pirate here, as well.
I remember before the 2006 refurb, there were no intrusion beams or alarms on doors, so we were all very familiar with the backstage layout and how all the effects worked. We took a lot of pride in understanding how to keep the "show" at a high standard, whether it meant going over to something and quickly resetting/adjusting it ourselves, or contacting engineering right away to have it addressed ASAP. Once the intrusion and door alarms went in, CMs working the attraction were discouraged from ever being anywhere inside the ride envelope and the level of knowledge of how the ride and its effects worked went way down. We used to do ride throughs to check for animation and lighting and stuff, but because the newer people aren't really encouraged to know what to look for or know how to spot problems, they mostly go unreported now. I've heard that lately doing a ride through isn't a normal part of a MK Pirate CM's day like it used to be, now only really happening if there is a suspected problem that needs to be seen. We actually used to be assigned to ride through and check things out and that would happen several times a day. It's just a shame that the current Pirates CM team doesn't get the hands on knowledge they used to, so things like the 10x10s or the rain disco football could stop working and not even be noticed for long periods of time.
