diff --git a/test/functional/apps/context/index.js b/test/functional/apps/context/index.js
index e18b2feae9f10b..65c5859b28922c 100644
--- a/test/functional/apps/context/index.js
+++ b/test/functional/apps/context/index.js
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ export default function ({ getService, getPageObjects, loadTestFile }) {
   const remote = getService('remote');
   const esArchiver = getService('esArchiver');
   const PageObjects = getPageObjects(['common']);
+  const kibanaServer = getService('kibanaServer');
 
   describe('context app', function () {
     this.timeout(config.get('timeouts.test'));
@@ -11,6 +12,11 @@ export default function ({ getService, getPageObjects, loadTestFile }) {
       await remote.setWindowSize(1200,800);
       await esArchiver.loadIfNeeded('logstash_functional');
       await esArchiver.load('visualize');
+      await kibanaServer.uiSettings.replace({
+        'dateFormat:tz':'UTC',
+        'defaultIndex':'logstash-*'
+      });
+
       await PageObjects.common.navigateToApp('discover');
     });
 
diff --git a/test/functional/apps/discover/_collapse_expand.js b/test/functional/apps/discover/_collapse_expand.js
index 6569467b206ba2..39809c1f6c63a3 100644
--- a/test/functional/apps/discover/_collapse_expand.js
+++ b/test/functional/apps/discover/_collapse_expand.js
@@ -12,13 +12,13 @@ export default function ({ getService, getPageObjects }) {
       const toTime = '2015-09-23 18:31:44.000';
 
       // delete .kibana index and update configDoc
-      return kibanaServer.uiSettings.replace({
-        'dateFormat:tz':'UTC',
-        'defaultIndex':'logstash-*'
-      })
+      return esArchiver.load('discover')
       .then(function loadkibanaIndexPattern() {
         log.debug('load kibana index with default index pattern');
-        return esArchiver.load('discover');
+        return kibanaServer.uiSettings.replace({
+          'dateFormat:tz':'UTC',
+          'defaultIndex':'logstash-*'
+        });
       })
       // and load a set of makelogs data
       .then(function loadIfEmptyMakelogs() {
diff --git a/test/functional/apps/discover/_discover.js b/test/functional/apps/discover/_discover.js
index 431d44155c729e..67b7a41d7e3bb6 100644
--- a/test/functional/apps/discover/_discover.js
+++ b/test/functional/apps/discover/_discover.js
@@ -16,14 +16,14 @@ export default function ({ getService, getPageObjects }) {
 
     before(async function () {
       // delete .kibana index and update configDoc
+      await esArchiver.load('discover');
+
+      log.debug('load kibana index with default index pattern');
       await kibanaServer.uiSettings.replace({
         'dateFormat:tz':'UTC',
         'defaultIndex':'logstash-*'
       });
 
-      log.debug('load kibana index with default index pattern');
-      await esArchiver.load('discover');
-
       // and load a set of makelogs data
       await esArchiver.loadIfNeeded('logstash_functional');
       log.debug('discover');
diff --git a/test/functional/apps/discover/_field_data.js b/test/functional/apps/discover/_field_data.js
index 6921018bce9c39..f1d1f5f4c84c9b 100644
--- a/test/functional/apps/discover/_field_data.js
+++ b/test/functional/apps/discover/_field_data.js
@@ -13,13 +13,13 @@ export default function ({ getService, getPageObjects }) {
       const toTime = '2015-09-23 18:31:44.000';
 
       // delete .kibana index and update configDoc
-      return kibanaServer.uiSettings.replace({
-        'dateFormat:tz': 'UTC',
-        'defaultIndex': 'logstash-*'
-      })
+      return esArchiver.load('discover')
       .then(function loadkibanaIndexPattern() {
         log.debug('load kibana index with default index pattern');
-        return esArchiver.load('discover');
+        return kibanaServer.uiSettings.replace({
+          'dateFormat:tz': 'UTC',
+          'defaultIndex': 'logstash-*'
+        });
       })
       // and load a set of makelogs data
       .then(function loadIfEmptyMakelogs() {
diff --git a/test/functional/apps/discover/_shared_links.js b/test/functional/apps/discover/_shared_links.js
index 40841514f900e0..1118572d512570 100644
--- a/test/functional/apps/discover/_shared_links.js
+++ b/test/functional/apps/discover/_shared_links.js
@@ -27,13 +27,13 @@ export default function ({ getService, getPageObjects }) {
       const toTime = '2015-09-23 18:31:44.000';
 
       // delete .kibana index and update configDoc
-      return kibanaServer.uiSettings.replace({
-        'dateFormat:tz': 'UTC',
-        'defaultIndex': 'logstash-*'
-      })
+      return esArchiver.load('discover')
       .then(function loadkibanaIndexPattern() {
         log.debug('load kibana index with default index pattern');
-        return esArchiver.load('discover');
+        return kibanaServer.uiSettings.replace({
+          'dateFormat:tz': 'UTC',
+          'defaultIndex': 'logstash-*'
+        });
       })
       // and load a set of makelogs data
       .then(function loadIfEmptyMakelogs() {
diff --git a/test/functional/apps/discover/_source_filters.js b/test/functional/apps/discover/_source_filters.js
index 99a0b413266e8f..b6640252cabc8e 100644
--- a/test/functional/apps/discover/_source_filters.js
+++ b/test/functional/apps/discover/_source_filters.js
@@ -12,13 +12,13 @@ export default function ({ getService, getPageObjects }) {
       const toTime = '2015-09-23 18:31:44.000';
 
       // delete .kibana index and update configDoc
-      return kibanaServer.uiSettings.replace({
-        'dateFormat:tz': 'UTC',
-        'defaultIndex':'logstash-*'
-      })
+      return esArchiver.load('visualize_source-filters')
       .then(function loadkibanaIndexPattern() {
         log.debug('load kibana index with default index pattern');
-        return esArchiver.load('visualize_source-filters');
+        return kibanaServer.uiSettings.replace({
+          'dateFormat:tz': 'UTC',
+          'defaultIndex':'logstash-*'
+        });
       })
       // and load a set of makelogs data
       .then(function loadIfEmptyMakelogs() {
diff --git a/test/functional/apps/visualize/index.js b/test/functional/apps/visualize/index.js
index 9bf60b05a35f11..a99fec77268f83 100644
--- a/test/functional/apps/visualize/index.js
+++ b/test/functional/apps/visualize/index.js
@@ -13,11 +13,11 @@ export default function ({ getService, loadTestFile }) {
 
       log.debug('Starting visualize before method');
       const logstash = esArchiver.loadIfNeeded('logstash_functional');
-      // delete .kibana index and update configDoc
-      return kibanaServer.uiSettings.replace({ 'dateFormat:tz':'UTC', 'defaultIndex':'logstash-*' })
+      log.debug('load .kibana index with visualize test data');
+      return esArchiver.load('visualize')
       .then(function loadkibanaIndexPattern() {
-        log.debug('load kibana index with default index pattern');
-        return esArchiver.load('visualize');
+        log.debug('make sure UTC timezone and default index pattern are set in .kibana');
+        return kibanaServer.uiSettings.replace({ 'dateFormat:tz':'UTC', 'defaultIndex':'logstash-*' });
       })
       // wait for the logstash data load to finish if it hasn't already
       .then(function () {
diff --git a/test/functional/page_objects/dashboard_page.js b/test/functional/page_objects/dashboard_page.js
index c34df83d5661c9..51c4363d7dc589 100644
--- a/test/functional/page_objects/dashboard_page.js
+++ b/test/functional/page_objects/dashboard_page.js
@@ -21,14 +21,14 @@ export function DashboardPageProvider({ getService, getPageObjects }) {
   class DashboardPage {
     async initTests() {
       const logstash = esArchiver.loadIfNeeded('logstash_functional');
+
+      log.debug('load kibana index with visualizations');
+      await esArchiver.load('dashboard');
       await kibanaServer.uiSettings.replace({
         'dateFormat:tz':'UTC',
         'defaultIndex':'logstash-*'
       });
 
-      log.debug('load kibana index with visualizations');
-      await esArchiver.load('dashboard');
-
       await PageObjects.common.navigateToApp('dashboard');
       return logstash;
     }