Just catching back up with the thread. Right now, I have two reservations for the same night, one at Narcoosee's, one at California Grill. If we do one of those, we will definitely visit Trader Sam's. I know a lot of people like these restaurants to view the fireworks, but that's not an important factor for us. We've stayed at WL and watched the fireworks from our balcony with our kids, and have seen them multiple times in the park, so I don't think the restaurant view will blow us away.
If we have our date the night before, it will be Epcot/Boardwalk. I read the review linked for the new restaurant in Japan. Reservations aren't open as of right now, but I will keep it in mind. It wouldn't be as expensive as V&A's, well for us anyway, so not out of the question. I would equate Takumi-Tei to something we couldn't experience where we live.
I also like the recommendation for Jelly Rolls. I've done a piano bar before in San Antonio on their boardwalk, it was so much fun. But this will be a Tuesday night, so if it's pretty dead that will take away from the fun factor IMO.
We discussed it recently, and agreed that we should wait and make our final decision when we are there. We will already have done 4-5 full park days before we can go on the date, so we may just want to do dinner & drinks close by and then call it a night. Having 3 small kids at Disney is no small feat, so as much as we want to go all out and stay out late, we both know it will make the rest of our trip more difficult...I'm not a pessimist people, just a realist ; )