FTDI disappears when powering circuit with it.
The 3.3V regulator on a ft232 is not that strong. 50 mA or so at best. The ESP is very power hungry compared to it. You need a better regulator.
This is to say, the regulator on the FTDI is being overloaded, and the whole thing is losing power, essentially brown outs. The FTDI runs off the 3.3v internally, so when the regulator starts failing to regulate due to being overloaded, the internal circuitry cuts out.