Disable Dashboard's auto-refresh feature?

Is there any way to prevent the dashboard from auto-refreshing each time I open it? The widgets have already loaded the first time, and all the information I need is already there, so it's frustrating to wait for it all to load again each time I open it just to check something. If there's an app or feature somewhere that could help with this, if someone could point it out for me, that'd be great. Thanks!

Almost all widgets are internet-connected, so in order for them to work, yes they need to refresh their connection to the internet.

But would it be possible to just used the cached information? Or manually refresh it only when I need it?

Nope.