diff --git a/caravel/assets/javascripts/dashboard.js b/caravel/assets/javascripts/dashboard.js
index d2e4f5f016fc6..da711d725faa1 100644
--- a/caravel/assets/javascripts/dashboard.js
+++ b/caravel/assets/javascripts/dashboard.js
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ var Dashboard = function (dashboardData) {
     filters: {},
     init: function () {
       this.initDashboardView();
+      this.firstLoad = true;
       px.initFavStars();
       var sliceObjects = [],
         dash = this;
@@ -67,15 +68,17 @@ var Dashboard = function (dashboardData) {
     startPeriodicRender: function (interval) {
       this.stopPeriodicRender();
       var dash = this;
-      var maxRandomDelay = Math.min(interval * 0.1, 5000);
+      var maxRandomDelay = Math.min(interval * 0.2, 5000);
       var refreshAll = function () {
         dash.slices.forEach(function (slice) {
+          var force = !dash.firstLoad;
           setTimeout(function () {
-                slice.render(true);
-              },
-              //Randomize to prevent all widgets refreshing at the same time
-              maxRandomDelay * Math.random());
+            slice.render(force);
+          },
+          //Randomize to prevent all widgets refreshing at the same time
+          maxRandomDelay * Math.random());
         });
+        dash.firstLoad = false;
       };
 
       var fetchAndRender = function () {
diff --git a/caravel/viz.py b/caravel/viz.py
index 5c0c6df174261..4839899948426 100644
--- a/caravel/viz.py
+++ b/caravel/viz.py
@@ -120,13 +120,16 @@ def get_url(self, **kwargs):
             del d['action']
         d.update(kwargs)
         # Remove unchecked checkboxes because HTML is weird like that
-        for key in d.keys():
+        od = OrderedDict()
+        for key in sorted(d.keys()):
             if d[key] is False:
                 del d[key]
+            else:
+                od[key] = d[key]
         href = Href(
             '/caravel/explore/{self.datasource.type}/'
             '{self.datasource.id}/'.format(**locals()))
-        return href(d)
+        return href(od)
 
     def get_df(self, query_obj=None):
         """Returns a pandas dataframe based on the query object"""