There is not one. Unless you are talking about the rope between Norway and the rest of WS that is up till 11:00. Same as the one between France and the rest of WS
It's about the same amount of walking whether you enter through the main Epcot gate, or the International Gateway. But, there will probably be a lot less people entering through the IG, so if you're staying at BW, BC, YC, or S&D it's really convenient to enter there. If you're not staying at one of those, it would be really inconvenient to enter there, but probably a little quicker.
We rope dropped Epcot today at the IG. We were let in about 20 minutes early. We were able to make it to Future World just slightly before the front gate crowds came in.