I have written a new script that appears to be having problems disabling dithering. Rather than repeat the script, I have simplified an example to show this.
If I start with JPG or PNG with lots of colors and end with a gif, then I get dithering even with +dither in command line. This does not happen if I start with 256 color or less GIF.
Here are the test input images:
JPG

PNG
http://www.fmwconcepts.com/misc_tests/d ... radise.png
GIF
http://www.fmwconcepts.com/misc_tests/d ... radise.gif
Processing:
JPG:
convert birdofparadise.jpg -sample 5% -scale 2000% +dither birdofparadise_pixelize_jpg.gif

Notice above that several squares on the left side show a speckling that I presume is due to dither. Other squares show similar speckling if the image is made brighter
PNG:
convert birdofparadise.png -sample 5% -scale 2000% +dither birdofparadise_pixelize_png.gif
http://www.fmwconcepts.com/misc_tests/d ... ze_jpg.gif
GIF:
convert birdofparadise.gif -sample 5% -scale 2000% +dither birdofparadise_pixelize_gif.gif
http://www.fmwconcepts.com/misc_tests/d ... ze_gif.gif